Doctor Sued On Flu Shots

State Claims Price Hiked In Shortage

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal accused a Greenwich doctor of flu shot price gouging and said Friday he is suing the physician and a father and son who supplied the vaccine.

Blumenthal is suing Dr. Robert P. Gabriel, who operates the Greenwich Convenient Medical Care Center. Blumenthal contends that Gabriel charged patients $50 each for a flu shot before Oct. 5, when federal officials announced that the nation's flu vaccine supply had been cut in half. After the shortage was announced, according to Blumenthal, Gabriel increased his price to $100 a shot. At the $50 price, Gabriel was realizing a profit of $42 a shot. After the price hike and an increase in what Gabriel paid for the vaccine, his profit per shot rose to $70 -- a 67 percent increase.

``This pattern of pricing was unconscionable,'' Blumenthal said. ``As the supply diminished, his prices increased dramatically.'' He said that at least 100 shots were given at the $100 price tag. Blumenthal said that he was alerted to the costly shots by some of Gabriel's patients.

The suit also names Raymond N. Mott Jr., Gabriel's administrative assistant, and Mott's son, Raymond N. Mott III, a physician's assistant who operates House Calls of New York in New Windsor, N.Y., which provides home medical visits. Blumenthal claims that when Gabriel was unable to buy vaccine after news of the shortage broke, he obtained vaccine from the Motts. Both Motts profited from the sale of vaccine, according to Blumenthal.

The lawsuit seeks restitution for consumers and the return of excessive revenues and profits gained through the improper price inflation. The attorney general also is seeking civil penalties for violations of the state's unfair trade act. Neither Mott Jr. nor Mott III was permitted to sell wholesale drugs in the state, according to Blumenthal.

This is the second such lawsuit filed by Blumenthal. On Oct. 21, he announced that his office would sue Meds-Stat of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. In doing so, Connecticut joined three other states in suing the firm, which was charged with selling vaccine at 10 times its normal market price.

Officials at Meds-Stat have said that the firm's business is to locate hard-to-find medicines for hospitals and that it never bought the vaccine at the low, pre-shortage price. Therefore, the firm did not profit from a 10-fold price increase. Two of the states that sued, Florida and Kansas, subsequently settled with Meds-Stat.